Every dollar raised directly funds one of these important projects. Tending the Garden’s Campaign initiatives are:
- Endowment
- Exhibits
- Education
- Research
- Institutional Support
Overview
Founded in 1939, the Garden has a history of conservatively managing and efficiently using its operating revenue. In early 2007 permanent endowment measured $550,000. In twelve months the Tending the Garden campaign has increased endowed assets by $7,157,165. Only upon achieving the campaign’s $10,000,000 endowment goal will the Garden begin to realize meaningful annual earnings from these assets.
The Need
Permanent endowment is the final piece in a mixed funding strategy to ensure a sufficient and growing financial base for the future. It will provide on-going stability, allow for changing economic circumstances and will insure the Garden’s future as a major resource for the region and the nation. Generous endowment support from thoughtful and prudent donors will:
• Build endowed assets to generate $500,000 in revenue each year
• Ensure the Garden’s permanence and flexibility
• And support its renewal and revitalization FOREVER
The Response
The Garden still needs to attract an additional 2.8 million in endowment gifts to meet its goal. Careful asset management along with on-going endowment growth will then insure the institution against shaky financial markets and unforeseen swings in attendance.
The Goal
The Garden seeks your support in meeting the $10 million permanent endowment goal. This financial stability is essential to furthering the Garden’s mission, sustaining both collections, programs and research efforts for generations to come.
Overview
The living collections are the Garden’s greatest treasure and the very heart of the on-site experience. The Garden is a rare combination of priceless plant collections that are artfully exhibited, maintained by horticultural specialists, and interpreted by professional educators for a very broad audience. The plant displays provide models and inspiration for Valley homeowners, gardeners, and landscape professionals.
The Need
Today’s visitors have high expectations for learning and appreciation. While the Garden is often praised for the outstanding plant collections and the superb care provided to the collections, a number of the Garden’s plant and interpretive displays have not been enhanced or updated for decades.
• New Entry/Exit Experience, a dramatic and engaging series of galleries
• Cactus House and Succulent House renovations
• New Agave/Yucca Forest Exhibit
• Center for Desert Living Trail renovations
• Garden orientation signage for visitors
The Response
The Garden will adopt a museum concept for organizing the plant collections. Imagine the Garden as a series of outdoor galleries, or great exhibition spaces, connected by pathways, weaving a unified story that is easy to communicate. Each gallery will be designed to showcase one segment of the collections. Core exhibits will remain dramatic and visual while key areas will be redesigned and dedicated in a cycle of renewal and celebration.
The Goal
The Desert Botanical Garden seeks $3 million in private funding to support the new exhibits plan.
• New Entry/Exit Experience, a dramatic and engaging series of galleries (100% fully funded)
• Cactus House and Succulent House renovations (100% fully funded)
• New Agave/Yucca Forest Exhibit (100% fully funded)
• Center for Desert Living Trail renovations (100% fully funded)
• Garden orientation signage for visitors (0% funded to date)
Overview
Already, the Garden’s education programs deliver innovative and engaging experiences to thousands of students each year. In fact nearly 40,000 children, teachers and parent chaperones participated in our field trip program last year. During that same period, 2,300 adults enrolled in formal classes and workshops and nearly 600 volunteers acted as docents, classroom aides and guides. The Garden also operates the Desert Landscaper School, a popular training center for professional landscapers and valley homeowners.
The Need
1. The greatest need for the Garden is to connect with the school systems (K-8) in a
systematic way that makes the Garden an accessible environmental education and science resource for local teachers and students.
2. Title 1 students, who qualify for free school meals, need support to participate in Garden field trips.
3. Because demand is so high for personal, docent-led tours, the Garden cannot currently fulfill all requests, especially for visitors of different countries, cultures and languages.
The Response
1. With advice and input from many classroom teachers, the Garden is developing a comprehensive digital curriculum unit for K-12 teachers, that will be a state-of-the art environmental education guide with practical, tested tools that Arizona teachers can use in the classroom.
2. The Garden can currently accommodate an additional 10,000 students each year for a guided field trip program, and we seek scholarships for Title 1 students to participate.
3. To address the need for additional docent-led tours, the Garden is developing a technologically advanced audio tour program that permits rapid editing, updating and choices in five languages (English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese).
The Goal
The Desert Botanical Garden seeks $1 million in private funding to support educational initiatives.
• Digital Curriculum Unit (100% funded to date)
• Title 1 Scholarships (84% funded to date)
• Audio Tour (90% funded to date)
Overview
Garden scientists monitor rare and threatened plants, especially those impacted by rapid urbanization and drought. Diverse community and government agencies call on Garden scientists to assess environmental systems and to advise governmental agencies on environmental priorities. Garden staff and volunteers participate in a range of collaborations with other gardens, government agencies and universities. Chief among these are seed collecting for the Millennium Seed Bank (a project of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew), staff training for the Bureau of Land Management, joint teaching appointments with Arizona State University, and a sister-garden relationship with Hidalgo, Mexico.
The Need
The Garden lacks the resources to reach “critical mass” as a research team. To be the top center for studies of desert plants, the Garden needs additional plant specialists and desert ecology experts to work with our collections, researchers and community partners. While the Garden has developed meaningful collaborations, these relationships are just the beginning. The Garden research team operates far below capacity at a time when the demand is rising for knowledge about desert plants and desert systems.
• Create a research scientist position for conservation botany
• Fund a plant physiologist position
• Offer international Desert Research Fellowships
The Response
Building on its core strengths in scientific research and horticulture, the Garden will step up to global stature in the study of desert plants, especially cacti and other succulents. The next recruits to the team must be a Conservation Biologist and a Plant Physiologist. The proposed International Desert Fellowship Program will support visiting scientists from other arid regions of the world to work at the Garden in research collaborations with Garden scientists.
The Goal
The Desert Botanical Garden seeks $1 million in private funding to support research initiatives.
• Create a research scientist position for conservation botany (100% fully funded
• Fund a plant physiologist position (2.5% funded to date)
• Offer international Desert Research Fellowships (0% funded to date)
The Garden lacks the resources to reach “critical mass” as a research team. To be the top center for studies of desert plants, the Garden needs additional plant specialists and desert ecology experts to work with our collections, researchers and community partners. While the Garden has developed meaningful collaborations, these relationships are just the beginning. The Garden research team operates far below capacity at a time when the demand is rising for knowledge about desert plants and desert systems.
Overview
The Garden understands the costs of making thoughtful plans for the future. The Campaign plan must be supported during a three to five-year period.
The Need
In its assessment of developing and managing Campaign projects, senior staff calculated the costs of supporting and implementing the plan. They identified a list of specialists – these are term appointments and independent contractors – needed during the Campaign project. Positions include two staff exhibit managers, one gift planning professional, several independent contractors, and the costs of stepped-up communications and contacts with donors during the Campaign.
• Enables the Garden to manage new exhibits
• Supports the overall scope and quality of communications and donor relations
The Response
The Board of Trustees of the Desert Botanical Garden approved a detailed budget for the five-year project.
The Goal
The Desert Botanical Garden seeks $1 million in private funding for critical, short-term costs of designing and implementing strategic projects and supporting the Campaign.
The Endowment Fund (71% funded to date)
Exhibits
Education
Research